Blurred lines: when sex toys become medical devices
A combination of innovation and better marketing is helping to turn sex toys into household health products – and eliminating a few unnecessary taboos along the way
Stephanie Berman, the entrepreneur behind the Semenette, an insemination device designed to function as a sex toy, introduced her product at the Sexual Health Expo in Hollywood last week.
As reported in The Guardian, Berman’s background is in medtech. In 2001 she joined her mother’s company, Sepal Reproductive, which manufactures catheters and other devices for assisted reproduction, as well as diagnostic testing devices for women’s health.
What’s more, Berman is a big advocate of plastic, telling The Guardian about the value and availability of medical-grade non-phthalate polymers: “There’s a real shift, with people starting to demand high-quality products […] No one wants to put toxic material into their body.”
Stephanie’s work in the medtech sector is evidenced by the design credentials of Semenette Pop, the second iteration of the sex toy. Made from medical grade silicone, the design allows the user to remove and replace the custom tubing, custom tip, and custom luer lock after each use – a pre-emptive measure against concerns over toxicity or contamination.
“There’s a real shift, with people starting to demand high-quality products […] No one wants to put toxic material into their body.”
Berman, according to The Guardian, is also enthusiastic about eradicating taboos around the sex toy industry, and uses the increasing prevalence of health device/pleasure aid hybrids like Semenette to illustrate her point.
Pelvic floor rejuvenation is an obvious area where sex toys can play a major role in women’s health. Most recently, Lovelife Krush, a digital health device with accompanying smartphone app made a splash at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, taking home the award for digital health and fitness.
“The majority of women experience a weakening of the pelvic floor due to childbirth and age,”said Suki Dunham, founder of OhMiBod, the company behind the device.
“Our Lovelife Krush measures the pressure, control, endurance, and grip of PC muscles and helps women strengthen them through training challenges. Stronger PC muscles can lead to stronger, more intense orgasms. They also aid in keeping incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse at bay.”
A final thought on sex toys as health devices: in her book The Technology of Orgasm, author Rachel Maines asserts that medical vibrators have actually existed since the end of the nineteenth century to treat nervous conditions in both men and women. One mistake we make with surprising frequency in medtech is the confusion of emerging trends with re-emerging trends.